


Markus' Undead Soulmate

by PidgeTheCat17



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst, But he comes back, Connor (Detroit: Become Human) Dies, Connor (Detroit: Become Human) Whump, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Markus is confused, Oneshot, Past Character Death, Soulmate Tattoos, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates, near the end
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-30
Updated: 2020-08-30
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:47:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,009
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26188195
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PidgeTheCat17/pseuds/PidgeTheCat17
Summary: When Markus deviates he gets a soulmate tattoo. At first he's just confused; why has his soulmate "been ordered to take him alive" ? But when his soulmate keeps dying only to come back again, Markus gets worried. When they finally meet, Connor promises it was just a glitch, but he finds out it was anything but. Angst and emotions ensue as Markus learns the horrible truth.
Relationships: Connor/Markus (Detroit: Become Human)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 212





	Markus' Undead Soulmate

**Author's Note:**

> So... this happened? I wanted to expand more on how Connor's deaths/rebirths affected his life and emotional state. Angst is more towards the beginning and end if you want to skip the fluff in the middle.

When Markus comes back online in a junkyard, the last thing on his mind is the new tattoo adjoining his inner forearm. It’s only after he literally puts himself back together and crawls out of that hell that he notices it. The words are neat, written in small Cyberlife-stan, and stick out against the flesh below his elbow. Markus had seen similar marks before on humans, but never on an android. Carl had told him about them - they were called soulmarks that appeared at birth, and held the first words your soulmate would say to you. He’d even had shown him his own, which had faded to red rather than stark black and explained that’s what happens when your soulmate dies. Some people could go their whole lives without one, without a piece of their soul, because they didn’t find them fast enough. 

A strangled yell from the heap of broken androids stops Markus from investigating it further. He takes a coat that was hanging near the pit and let it cover the tattoo as he walked, the words still ringing in his mind; 

“I’ve been ordered to take you alive.” 

{%*%}

When Markus gets to Jericho he finds the other deviants have similar marks. 

“All we know is that they work the same as humans’ soulmarks,” Simon explains, showing his own; ‘hi, I’m Darren, what’s you’re name?’ The sweetness of Simon’s mark makes Markus worry about his own; why would his soulmate be trying to take him in? When North finally bugs him enough to show them she whistles. 

“Yikes,” she says and Markus cringes. “Good luck with that one.” Simon gives him a sympathetic pat on the back.

“Maybe it’s not that bad?” Josh offers, trying to lighten the mood.

“At least it’s not blue,” Simon backs him up. He’s referring to the shade of thirium blue the soulmarks faded to when their soulmates died. Some of the androids at Jericho had become deviant only to receive blue marks because their soulmate was already dead. 

“Yeah, I guess.” Markus just frowns at the words before pulling his sleeve down. “Now, what’s the plan for the supply run?”

{%*%}

Markus doesn’t have to worry about his soulmate for long, apparently, because a few hours later when getting ready for their supply run it goes blue. The skin around it burns slightly as the ink loses its color and is replaced with blue. A part of Markus mourns the soulmate he would never meet, but a larger part is focused on the rebellion. If his soulmate died at the hand of humans, then helping the androids at Jericho form a larger cause would do them justice. 

So, Markus pushes the grief away for later and does what needs to be done; help his people. The operation itself goes smoothly, and they arrive back at Jericho with a truck load of supplies and a few new deviants. It's not until later, when he settles in for stasis, that he takes off his coat and finds a new tattoo. It’s just like the first one - color and words identical - except an inch further towards his wrist. The two marks, new and old, are stacked next to each other. It doesn’t make sense; how could his soulmate be the same, if they had died? 

Markus’ systems note that he’s at low power, and he decides he can deal with it later before slipping into stasis. 

{%*%}

The next time it happens is less than 24 hours later. One moment he’s helping pass out thirium and the next his arm is burning. He doesn’t need to check to know his second mark had gone blue, but he does anyway. Markus escapes to a corner and runs his fingers over the two sets of blue words. Was his soulmate actually dying and coming back to life? What if they have a condition and are deathly sick, and keep having to be resuscitated? 

For the first time Markus feels something for his soulmate; worry. Even if he’d never met them., he’d do anything to stop their pain. He holds his breath when he realizes the mark may not come back again, meaning his soulmate was dead, permanently. 

“Markus?” Simon’s voice calls out from around the corner and Markus quickly pulls his sleeve down. “Where are you?”

“Right here. I thought I heard something,” Markus responds, stepping into the hall and Simon’s line of sight. He doesn’t know why but he feels the impulse to lie about it; it was too private. 

“Ok.” Simon seems skeptical but waves him forward. “North wants to talk more about the radio tower infiltration.” 

“Of course.” Markus follows him, resisting the urge to check his arm again, to the group. North starts the conversation, Josh points out all the places things could go wrong, Simon expresses worry, and Markus tries to reign them all together; no to killing the guards, they can avoid detection with uniforms, everything will be alright. 

“I think that takes everything into account,” Simon says as their planning session comes to a close. “Good ideas Markus.” 

“Thanks,” he replies absentmindedly. He wants to leave and check if his soulmark was there again. “We leave at 0900 hours.” The group nods before dispersing in different directions. Markus slips away to the boat’s control room, which had unofficially become his office. He pulls the jacket off, letting it drop to the floor as he takes in his forearm. There’s a new tattoo, once again identical and placed above the previous. The marks were starting to take up a good portion of his forearm. Markus sighs and rubs at his face, suddenly able to relax a bit. 

“Just, don’t die again, okay?” Markus says to the empty room and prays they get the message. 

{%*%} 

Whoever they are, they obviously didn’t get the idea. Markus, North, and Josh were still on their way back to Jericho, parachutes ditched in a dumpster. The mission had gone by pretty smoothly, other than having to leave Simon behind. They’d got the message through without any human casualties, and public opinion was up. Markus’ skin was tingling with excitement because they might actually have a chance. The thrill is dulled when only 40 minutes later his arm begins to burn. 

“Not again,” he says without thinking, gripping at the place through his jacket as if that’ll stop it.

“Markus, what’s wrong?” Josh asks, eyebrows furrowed in worry. 

Markus sighs, debating whether it’s worth it, and decides he needs help if he’s going to understand this. “My soulmate keeps dying.”

“What do you mean, keeps dying?” North butts in.

Markus doesn’t really know how to explain, so instead he pulls his sleeve up, showing off the now three blue soulmarks, all with identical words and font. The two pauses, obviously as confused as Markus. “That's a Cyberlife font, they must be an android,” Josh points out. 

“That doesn’t explain it, though.” Markus sighs and puts his sleeve back in place. 

“Maybe they’re undead,” North offers, somewhat jokingly. “Imagine that, the deviant leader and a zombie.” 

“North this isn’t funny,” Josh says, giving her the ‘take this seriously it obviously means a lot to Markus’ look. “Maybe it’s a mistake, because you’re both androids? Maybe every time they go into stasis they register as dead?” Markus nods, liking that theory much better than any ones he had come up with, and especially better than the one North suggested; they did not need a zombie apocalypse on top of everything else right now. 

“Yeah, you’re probably right,” Markus responds, glad to have settled things. He feels even better when a few hours later his soulmark comes back, not even caring that they’re almost at his wrist now. His soulmate is okay, he tells himself, and who knows, maybe one day Markus will meet them. 

{%*%}

When that day comes, Markus is not prepared. He’s in his makeshift office, organizing plans and taking a break from the noise of the storage hold when an android comes in, dressed in what could be dumpster clothes, aiming a gun at his head and speaking the words engraved Markus’ arm; I’ve been ordered to take you alive. 

Markus almost laughs when he recognizes who it was; the deviant hunter. If North thought him dating a zombie would be funny, she would get a kick out of this. After killing him, of course.

A part of Markus wants to jump and scream that they’re soulmates, that he’s his other half, but the bigger part(the smart one) knows that Connor hasn’t deviated yet, and therefore has no mark yet. Markus chooses his next words carefully; 

“What are you doing?” He asks, stepping forward. “You are one of us. You can’t betray your own people.” 

He can tell Connor’s on the edge of deviancy already, all it takes are a few more words and Markus pushes him over the edge. Even with a beanie on he can tell the new deviant’s LED is spinning red, and all he wants to do is comfort him. 

“They’re going to attack Jericho,” Connor says before Markus can act. 

“What?!” Markus exclaims, the moment successfully ruined as loud creaks sound out from above. 

And suddenly they’re running for their lives. Markus is forced to leave his new found soulmate's side to set off bombs in the hole, but he knows it’s worth it. This way they could start off their relationship, or whatever Connor wanted, as free. 

{%*%}

Markus’ eyes keep being drawn to Connor at the church. The other was right there, leaning against the wall in thought only meters away, but as much as Markus wants to talk to him he doesn’t know how he should approach the situation. Why should he? Soulmarks were supposed to be a human thing, so he never learned. 

If his thirium pump could flip it would when Connor approaches him. He imagines Connor walking up, pulling up his sleeve and declaring them soulmates. What Markus gets is Connor proposing a suicide mission. What Markus wants to say is no. What actually happens is Connor being stubborn and Markus giving in; Connor was built for combat, so he’d be fine. Right? 

Markus still worries when Connor walked out of the church, mulling over his list of faded soulmarks and wondering if he was about to get another one. 

{%*%}

Two weeks later, Markus finally has a conversation with Connor that doesn’t include a gun. The revolution had run its course, and after Connor arrived with reinforcements the city of Detroit stood down. New laws were in place protecting androids, and even more where in the process of being passed. In fact, Markus was so busy that the only time they could meet was at two am in the only place that was still open; a 24/7 digital library. 

“Hank stop it! You don’t have to push me.” Markus hears Connor’s voice from around the corner and almost jumps up in alarm. Connor’s laugh puts him at ease. 

“I feel like I do,” a gruff voice, Hank, answers. “You have literally no friends other than me. And no, Sumo doesn’t count.”

“I get it. I’m going, I’m going.” Connor finally turns the corner and Markus stands from the bench. “Markus!” He says, LED sputtering yellow. “I’m guessing you heard all of that.”

Markus smiles, enjoying the blue blush taking over his face. “Sumo?”

Connor runs a hand down his face as he realizes that yes, the deviant leader knows he has no friends. “Hank’s dog.” He pauses for a moment. “Well I walk and feed and pet him so he’s kinda my dog too.”

“Dogs count as friends.” Markus points out, trying to make him feel better. “So if you think about it you have three whole friends.” He gestures Connor to a nearby table and sits down. 

“Three?” Connor asks as he follows suit.

“Hank, Sumo, and me, hopefully,” Markus lists. 

“You’re my friend?” His voice is so blunt Markus would feel insecure if he didn’t know that’s just how Connor is. 

“Well actually-” Markus cuts himself off. How is he supposed to say this? “Connor, to be honest, I didn’t ask you to meet me here today to talk about android integration into the police force.” Connor tilts his head in question. “RA9 how do I say this?” Markus mumbles, rubbing his forehead. 

“Are you okay?” Connor asks, moving his hand closer to Markus’. 

“Yes. Yes I’m perfect.” Markus grabs his hand, looking straight into Connor’s eyes. “You’re perfect.”

“Markus, now I know you’re not okay,” Connor says, looking up nearby repair shops because it was obvious his companion was having some sort of glitch. 

“Connor, you’re my soulmate.” He pulls his sleeve down without another word, all but shoving it in the other’s face. Connor freezes as he takes the words in. His processors automatically replay the memory of the first time they’d meet; how he’d threatened Markus with a gun and said those exact words. 

“I…” Connor begins but finds he doesn’t know what to say. Instead he acts, bunching up the sleeve of his sweater(the one Hank had forced him into), comparing the words in his memory to the words there. “I think you're right.” 

Markus smiles when he sees the words “What are you doing?” on his soulmates arms. 

“I noticed it on the way to Cyberlife tower, but more than one person has said it to me, and I figured the rebellion was probably more important,” Connor explains. His eyebrows clump together, LED circling yellow. 

“I understand,” Markus says, absentmindedly rubbing a circle on the back of Connor’s hand. “Are you okay?” 

“Yes,” Connor answers quickly, looking up so fast he almost runs into Markus. “Being with you feels… calming, I think. But I don’t want to force you to be with me. I understand if you invited me here to turn me down or-”

“Why would you think that?” Markus asks, saddened by the anxiety brewing in his companion. 

“I’m the deviant hunter,” Connor answers as if it’s obvious and pulls his hand back into his lap. 

“You were the deviant hunter,” Markus corrects. “When you weren’t in control.”

“But-” Connor begins but Markus doesn’t let him finish.

“But nothing. I want you in my life,” Markus says proudly. “Whether it be friend, or boyfriend.” He grabs Connor’s hand once again to demonstrate his preference but doesn’t push Connor further. 

“I… I think I’d like that,” Connor answers after a moment. He looks up, meeting Markus’ eyes, and they share a smile. 

{%*%}

Over the course of the next couple months the two meet whenever they can. At first Markus is the instigator, asking Connor on dates once a week, but after a while Connor begins messaging him first. They’ve gotten somewhat used to each other; Markus shared stories from the past, and while Connor was less forthcoming, Markus learned a lot about him as well. Every so often he’d get a picture of Sumo or a video of a new coin trick from Connor that would make Markus chuckle. It got him in trouble sometimes, especially when North or Josh caught him giggling during a meeting, but he didn’t mind. 

One of the first things they’d talked about was Markus’ soulmark. He’d expected Connor’s to look similar, with the glitch making it seem like he died and came back, but Connor’s was normal; just a single sentence of black. Connor had quickly quelled his worries, agreeing that it was probably a glitch because both of them were prototypes. Markus had nodded along with the logic and eventually accepted it as true. 

At least for a while he believed it - why would Connor lie to him? - until he started seeing Hank more often. At first it was just an offhand comment that warned Markus; stuff about being immortal, always coming back, and so on. But the deviant leader didn’t really realize anything was wrong until Hank shoved the idea in his face. 

Up until then he’d been wearing mainly coats and long sleeves because of the weather, so his soulmarks were almost always covered. That day he’d worn a t-shirt, and had gone to Hank’s house to pick up Connor. His soulmate was late - a case - but told Markus he could wait inside with Hank until he got there. 

Hank and Markus knew each other well enough by then that it wasn’t awkward to sit together in the kitchen. As usual Hank offered him coffee and Markus reminded him he couldn’t drink it, to which Hank offered thirium and Markus rolled his eyes. It isn’t until he notices Hank eyeing his left arm that the conversation shifts from the norm.

“It’s a glitch,” Markus explains, laying his arm flat on the table so Hank could see better. At this point Markus wasn’t self-conscious about it, and just told people with the truth. 

“Are you sure?” Hank asks and Markus finds himself lost. He’d never gotten that response before.

“I guess not.” Markus pokes at the skin as if it’ll tell him. “But it’s the only thing that makes sense.”

“Did Connor tell you that? That it was a glitch.” Markus looks up at the man, just more confused.

“He agreed. Why?” 

Hank looks around in a way that told Markus he wanted a drink. “Ask him again.”

“Why?” Markus stresses.

“Just ask him. He should be the one to tell you.” Hank stands as a knock sounds at the door. 

“What do you mean?” Markus pushes, getting irritated, but stops when he realizes the man wouldn’t answer. He squints at the marks again before standing and going to join Hank at the door. 

{%*%}

Markus mulls over Hank’s words throughout their date to the point of awkward silence brewing between them. He feels bad when Connor keeps trying to start up conversations only for him to let them drop, but he doesn’t have the concentration to do anything about it. The date goes by like that, with Connor fiddling with his coin by the end of it. 

“Have a good night,” Connor says before Markus knows it. He grabs his soulmates hand before he can walk away. 

“Wait.” Connor sighs and turns, crossing his arms across his chest in a way that tells Markus he really messed up. “We need to talk.” 

“Oh,” Connor replies, face falling and LED spinning yellow. 

“No not that!” Markus says quickly. “I’m not breaking up with you.” Markus takes his hand and guides them to a nearby bench, sitting them down. “I know we already talked about this, but I need to know the truth.”

Connor nods along warily. “Okay, about what?”

Markus turns his arm over and traces the sentences with his finger. “Why is my soulmark like this? The truth.” Connor’s face falls so fast it gives Markus whiplash.

“You don’t need to know.” Connor looks away, at anything other than his soulmate. “It's from when I was a machine. I did so many bad things- I don’t want you to see me differently,” Connor says. 

“Connor, I love you,” Markus says, trying to get Connor to meet his gaze. “I want to know everything about you. The good, the bad, the horrible. So that I can love all of that too. I want to love every part of you.”

Connor finally looks up, his eyes watery. Markus is about to take it all back when Connor raises his hand, deactivating the skin. He accepts the invitation and raises his own hand, pressing them together and interfacing. 

It wasn’t their first time doing this, so Markus isn’t surprised when he finds himself in Connor’s mindscape. Amanda was long gone, but the place stuck behind as a type of home base. He is surprised to be alone, though. 

He looks around, and when he can’t find Connor he begins to walk the path. He finally finds him kneeling on a side path that normally was covered by bushes and flowers. Markus follows the new path and sucks in his breath when he sees what Connor’s kneeling by; a graveyard. Three gravestones have been installed next to each other, labeled CONNOR - MARK I, II, and III. 

“Connor…” Markus sits next to his soulmate’s prone from. “What is this?” He asks because he doesn’t want it to be what he thinks it is.

“It’s a reminder of my failures,” Connor answers and Markus automatically knows it’s something Amanda said; it has that air of bitchiness. 

“Failures?” 

“Mistakes that lead to deactivation,” Connor elaborates, face flat but LED red. 

“Deaths?” Markus offers, voice barely there. Connor nods and Markus’ thirium pump clenches. Connor had died. Connor had a graveyard for his past selves in his own head. Connor had been hurt in ways Markus could never imagine. “How?”

“The first RK800 died from a bullet to the head. It was my first day with the DPD, and a deviant I’d interrogated harshly shot me, and then himself.” The information is impossible to process. The ‘first’ Connor; the term is messed up in so many ways. But Connor’s voice is forced steady, even as the air around them shifts with unease.

“The next time I was chasing down an AX400 and a little girl. They ran onto a highway, and I followed.” Connor shutters this time, the first sign of his past deaths haunting him. “I tried to grab her but she shook me off, and I wasn’t fast enough. I got clipped by a car, and hit by a truck.” Small bits of memory sneak into the mindscape and flash across the sky. Markus holds back a flinch at the memory of blinding headlights. 

“The last me died at the Radio Tower. We were investigating - well, you - and one of the kitchen androids attacked me.” Connor tenses and Markus resists the urge to hold him, not wanting to stop his flow. Around them flashes of a kitchen appear, followed by the face of an android, and a knife. “He stabbed my hand and pulled out my thirium pump.” Blue spatters across the landscape, and Markus sees it all; sees his soulmate calling out for help; sees him pulling a knife out of his hand; sees him crawling across the floor only to die reaching for his own heart. "I wasn't strong enough."

“Every time it happened I was replaced within hours, and every time I lost a bit of my original.” Connor shakes. Markus can tell he’s never shared this before, and that makes the truth even more heart wrenching. “I can’t help but wonder which one is actually me,” he says in a whisper. Connor’s anxiety leaks through the interface, making Markus’ thirium pump thump loudly and he can’t help but wonder how it feels first hand. “What if your soulmate was the original RK800, but now you’re stuck with me?”

Connor goes quiet and Markus takes this as an opportunity to wrap his arms around his shaking boyfriend. “I can’t even imagine how terrifying it is to question so much of who you are, nevertheless how traumatizing it is to die three times, but I do know that you are my soulmate. If not, my soulmark would have faded blue like normal the first time. It didn’t though; it came back every time because you never stopped being my soulmate.” Markus leans back a moment to wipe the tears from Connor’s cheek. “I love you. Old you, new you, future you. All of you.”

“I…” Connor sniffs. “Thank you so much. I love you. All of you.” Connor lets his head lean against Markus’ shoulder. 

“All of you,” Markus repeats softly before pulling Connor tighter.

{%*%}

From then on the two start using ‘all of you’ and ‘i love you’ interchangeably. When asked what it means they share a smile and a blush but never tell. Two years later, the habit still remains.

“All of you,” Connor whispers as he slips a gold wedding band onto Markus’ ring finger. 

Markus smiles before slipping an identical silver ring onto his husband’s hand. “All of you.”

**Author's Note:**

> I enjoyed writing this! I'll probably write more Markus/Connor in the future, and definitely some fanfics exploring Connor's response to his past deaths. Thanks for reading.


End file.
